This invention relates to a paint carrier mounted at chest level for carrying a quantity of paint, and to a method of painting using a paint carrier mounted at chest level, the paint carrier and method retaining the benefits of prior art apparatuses and methods for carrying a measure of paint around a job site with the painter, but improving on the prior art by freeing the painter""s hands and increasing physical mobility.
The architectural application of paint and other protective coatings is an ancient art. Yet paint is still usually carried by hand in a bucket or pail. The painter ordinarily places a measure of paint in a paint container with a handle attached and carries the container around about the job. The almost universal method then is to carry the paint from place to place with the bucket in one hand and the brush in the other. The painter normally places the container on any convenient surface along the way, moving the container as the painting progresses. Moving the paint container around the job is tedious, exasperating, and can at times become dangerous, such as when climbing ladders and traversing scaffolding.
Numerous improvements have been made in the art attempting to free the painter""s hands. A number of these improvements concentrate on placing a paint container on the front of the user, much like a peanut vendor at the ballpark. Notable among these are Pogwizd U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,092, Lankford, U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,542, Bozarth, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 296,268, Harbouir, U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,982, McManaman, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 344,852, Byrd, U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,281, and Jensen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,606. Pogwizd, for example, discloses a paint container carrier having a contoured shape to conform to the painter""s body, including straps to secure the device in front of the user. Lankford discloses a sign painter""s paint holder which disposes a paint case in front of the painter""s torso at hip height.
A majority of designs place the paint container on the waist at the side of the user, like a tool holster. Included among these are Swinney, U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,503, Hayes, U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,720, Burow, U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,791, Hardman, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 286,949, Lieserson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,591, Robinson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,051, Davidson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,618, Dancyger, U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,921, Jaques, U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,433, Stolfo, U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,339, and Voisin, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,966. For instance, Swinney describes a belt-on holder for securing a brush and paint bucket at the side of a painter""s body at hip level. Hayes discloses a paint can holder for suspension from a painter""s belt having a supporting means for holding a paint can by its bail. Similarly, Burow discloses a hip girdle to which a paint pail is secured by straps.
As can be seen, many patents for hands-free paint carriers are designed around the standard paint can. The resulting designs are bulky and reduce the painter""s clearance by extending his or her profile. Furthermore, prior art devices designed to carry the paint can on the job are limited to one of two locations on the body for carrying: in front of the torso at waist level, or on the side at hip level. The resulting placement of the paint can by these devices does not account for the most natural and ergonomic construction of the body, leaving the painter with an unnecessarily reduced range of movement. For example, crawling along the floor to cut paint in at the base board is problematic because bulky prior art devices protrude into the work area when the painter is in a crouched work position and access to the paint is limited due to awkward body positions. Also, it is not uncommon for painters to find themselves leaning or hanging in precarious positions to reach particular areas while painting. The radical alignment of the body relative to the carrier resulting from prior art devices together with the added weight of the paint can and carrier can produce instability and perhaps introduce new dangers. A further disadvantage of the belt-attached devices is that they require the painter to strain wrist and shoulders to access the paint, and generally force the painter to come to an upright position to access the paint. Finally, all the prior art cited requires the painter to look where the brush is being aimed to ensure that it enters the paint container.
As the carrier device is changed to move the paint can toward the front of the painter, the above-stated disadvantages are mitigated, but the wearer is still fretted with inconveniences. Front clearance is reduced dramatically, any movement can easily induce spillage; the painter is hampered in leaning forward; and the painter must physically support the weight of the paint can thereby creating back strain.
On a normal painting job, it is customary and prudent to pour a measure of paint out of a full paint can into a receptacle for carrying around the job. This reduces the weight of the paint being carried and ensures against spillage. It is therefore unnecessary and disadvantageous to use the standard paint can as the on-the-job paint-carrying receptacle.
A few efforts have been made to introduce improved paint carriers. Robinson, supra, discloses a painter""s pouch for carrying paint and paint application related tools suspended from the hip. Jaques, supra, describes a painter""s holster for holding a reservoir of paint about the painter""s waist. And, King, U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,098, discloses a safety paint bucket for attachment either to a belt or for suspension at belt level from a shoulder strap. These inventions, although not designed around carrying or holding a standard paint can, still suffer from inherently bulky designs and are maladapted to ergonomic efficiency.
There is accordingly a need to make conveniently available a measure of paint to the painter with a device that frees up the painter""s hands for other uses, is convenient and easy to use, reduces any restrictions on the painter""s movement to a minimum, and does not unduly expand the painter""s physical profile while moving about the job. Ideally, any such device or method should allow for these attributes to be consistent with all but the most radical positions painters encounter, such as lying on their backs or stomachs.
The present invention provides an improved paint carrier which overcomes the above-stated disadvantages in the prior art. A chest-mounted paint carrier provides a shallow frontal profile paint carrier worn at the painter""s chest in a convenient position for access to paint in the carrier, which minimizes restrictions on movement while freeing the painter""s hands for other more efficient uses.
A chest-mounted paint carrier according to the invention provides a paint receptacle mounted to a mounting plate worn at chest level. In the preferred embodiment, the mounting plate is secured in place with a strap assembly. The receptacle is removably attached to the mounting plate with a pivot pin which allows the container to swing freely from side to side. A hinge below the pivot pin allows the container to swing forward and away from the torso when the painter has occasion to bend forward. The capacity of the paint receptacle anticipates and allows for carrying of a quantity of paint consistent with that usually carried when paint is poured from a paint can into a bucket for carrying around a job site. In the preferred embodiment, a paint brush may be suspended with its bristles above the carrier using a spring clip mounted on a back plate extending above the carrier.
Preferably, the paint receptacle depends from the mounting plate which is positioned at one side of the chest. The off-center location of the mounting plate and the unobtrusive profile of the paint receptacle combine to provide a paint container in a convenient and felicitous position for accessing the paint much as a portrait artist maintains a palette of paints for quick and easy access thereto.
The ergonomic placement of the paint receptacle on one side of the chest combined with the hinged and pivoting mounting apparatus enables the paint receptacle to swing freely in all directions thereby keeping it in an upright position, minimizing spillage, and allowing the painter to engage in various bending, stooping and crawling movements without interfering with ready access to the paint. The painter thus enjoys heretofore unknown freedom of movement and function.
The device allows the pivot pin to be dropped securely in place into the mounting plate and is disengaged merely by lifting the pivot pin up from and out of the mounting place. The painter thus can refill the receptacle using minimal effort and time. The ease of removing and replacing the receptacle on the mounting plate significantly increases the productivity of the painter.
The present invention thus provides an ergonomic, highly efficient device which assures that the paint receptacle at all times remains in a position relative to the painter that optimizes the painter""s comfort and efficiency, that maintains a useful measure of paint in an upright and convenient position, and that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture. A new method of painting corresponding to the device maximizes a painter""s freedom and range of movement.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to provide an improved paint carrier and method for painting which overcomes the disadvantages in the prior art.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved paint carrier and method for painting wherein a paint receptacle is mounted at a painter""s chest level in depending relation from a mounting plate, freeing both hands of the painter for other uses.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide an improved paint carrier and method for painting using a paint brush or roller wherein a paint receptacle is mounted at a painter""s chest level, the paint receptacle having a lowermost extent which remains above the painter""s waist level, thereby placing the receptacle in an ergonomic, comfortable and efficient location for painting.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved paint carrier and method for painting wherein the paint receptacle remains in an ergonomic position relative to the painter that optimizes the painter""s comfort and efficiency.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide an improved paint carrier and method for painting wherein a low-profile paint receptacle is mounted at a painter""s chest level in depending relation from a mounting plate, which minimizes the painter""s physical profile while moving about a job site, and maintains the paint receptacle in a felicitous position for carrying paint and for painting.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved paint carrier and method for painting using a paint brush or roller wherein a paint receptacle is mounted at a painter""s chest level in depending relation from a mounting plate using a hinged and pivoting mounting apparatus which keeps the paint receptacle in an upright position at all times.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an improved paint carrier which is inexpensive to manufacture.